RAMONA  Until Tuesday night, I’d only heard of people who found themselves in death’s grip retell their incredible stories about how their lives passed before them and how they felt changed after surviving the experience.

On Tuesday, I experienced that myself — not for a moment, but for 90 minutes. What I went through changed my entire outlook on life.

I was involved in a horrific and bizarre multi-vehicle accident, the details of which are still being sorted out. This much I know. On my way home to Ramona on Tuesday night, I rolled over high-voltage, electrified power lines that were strewn across Highway 67 near Mt. Woodson. My Dodge Ram 1500 was entangled in the octopus-like lines as my vehicle flipped over on the passenger side.

In an instant, I was sideways in my truck, left hand holding onto the steering wheel, right hand braced on the passenger-side headrest for more support. I was still in my seat belt, and I stayed that way for nearly two hours, the first 90 minutes not knowing if my truck was going to go up in flames or if I was going to be electrocuted or both.

As I hung like some Cirque du Soleil acrobat, I could see the high-voltage power lines wrapped around my door and windshield. I then saw a man’s arm emerge from the overturned rig in front of me. I saw him climb out, and I yelled for help but could only hear voices. In five or 10 minutes — I’m not sure how long, really — I heard a man who identified himself as David yell to me.

David asked me my name. He wanted to know if I was bleeding or if I could tell how badly I was hurt. As best I could tell, I wasn’t bleeding, and because I was dangling from the seat belt, I really couldn’t tell if anything was broken. As I think back, I was incredibly calm for the situation I was in. I was in shock, really.

“Ed, you’re in a really bad spot right now, but there’s nothing we can do for you, and I’m sorry for that,” he said, and I could tell from his voice that I was in grave danger. “You’ve got power lines all around your vehicle, and until we can be sure they’re not live, we can’t get you out. You’ve got to hang in there, man, don’t think about your situation. Think of something else, something good, and just focus on hanging in there until we can get to you.”

Later, I would learn that an AT&T utility pole fell over, dragging power lines with it. When my truck hit the lines, it caused my truck to veer right into the vehicle on my right. The collision caused other utility poles to fall. A video showed lines everywhere around and on my truck.

As I dangled inside, I smelled gas, oil, rubber. It was NASCAR meets Stephen King. I not only was sideways in my truck from a nasty crash, but now I couldn’t be rescued. I could see the high-voltage lines all around my door and windshield. I could see out of my windshield and see the overturned truck in front of me.